The Past
by kempokarate12
Summary: AUTHORS NOTE / CURRENTLY SHELVED! Years ago, Melinda was in a terrible accident. Now 10 years later, a ghost asking for Meinda's help forces her to relive the past and confront the last person she ever expected.
1. Chapter 1

Jim and Melinda were driving home from a movie. Jim was in the passenger seat while Melinda was driving. They were discussing the movie that they just saw.

"I just don't see why women always cry during the scenes where they meet and fall in love. It's not sad or anything" Jim pointed out.

"Oh, don't even go there. I saw you. You had tears in your eyes." Melinda teased giggling.

"I was not crying," Jim protested, "The ice in my drink fell and hit my eyes and got them wet. I do not cry during love scenes"

"Nice try. You can cry Jim. It doesn't make you any less of a man"

"I wasn't crying! I told you my- WATCH OUT!" Jim yelled spotting a deer in the middle of the road.

"Oh my god!" Melinda slammed her foot on the brakes and swerved her car to the side of the road.

Jims side of the car hit a tree and stopped. Jim quickly made sure he was fine then looked at Melinda. His breath caught in his throat and his heart skipped a beat. Melinda's head was on the steering wheel and she wasn't moving. The fear in Jim was so great, he just starred at her. He didn't know what he would do if anything happened to her. Finally he sprang into action.

"Melinda! Melinda are you okay? Talk to me!" he reached over and lifted her, fearing the worst. But what he saw was not what he expected, Melinda was crying, "Melinda, honey what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry" Melinda cried.

"It's okay. I'm fine. Calm down." Jim pulled Melinda into a hug, trying to calm her.

"I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. Jamie I'm so sorry I didn't mean to"

"Sshh" Jim soothed, a look of confusion crossing his face.


	2. Chapter 2

Around 20 minutes later, Jim called a tow truck, then Andrea, to ask her for a ride home. Jim and Melinda were sitting on the ground waiting for everyone to come. Melinda was wrapped in Jims arms, shaking.

"Melinda, are you sure you're okay?" Jim asked worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just, I guess I'm still shocked. I'm fine" she answered sounding unsure.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything"

"Who is Jamie?"

"What?"

"In the car, after it crashed, you said 'I'm sorry Jamie' Who is he?"

"Uh, no one. I though I said Jim. I was probably so freaked out I didn't know what I was saying. I wasn't thinking right. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry" Jim kissed her on the head and she leaned into him. At this point Andrea showed up.

"Oh my god, are you guys okay?" she asked when she got out of the car. The sight of Melinda's car in a tree, and Melinda herself wrapped in Jim's arms, scared her.

"We're fine" Jim answered, standing up. He reached his hand down to Melinda, but she wouldn't take it. She didn't even look at it.

Andrea and Jim shared a look with each other.

"Andrea, can I talk to you?" Jim asked walking away from his wife. Andrea followed close behind.

"Is everything okay?" Andrea asked.

"I don't- I don't know. Melinda is acting really weird."

"Obviously. You were just in a car accident. What do you except? Of course she is going to be shaken up a bit."

"No, this is different. I mean, I've seen her get shaken up, but not like this."

"What do you mean?"

"She's not there. I can't really get through to her. She's barely said a word since we crashed. I don't know what to do" Jim turned to look at Melinda who was staring into the woods. Jim then noticed the tow truck puling up.

"Listen, you go talk with the driver, and I'll talk with Melinda, okay?" Andrea offered.

"Thanks. You're the best. Tell me what she says okay?"

"Okay"

Jim walked over to talk with the truck driver, while Andrea walked over to Melinda.

"Hey," Andrea said while sitting down next to her best friend, "how you doing?"

Melinda turned and looked at Andrea for a long time before responding, "Fine"

"Jim tells me you're not talking to him. You wanna tell me what's wrong?"

Melinda said nothing and looked down. Andrea could see she was trying not to cry.

"Melinda, you know you can tell me anything. Please, talk to me" Andrea pleaded.

"I can't" Melinda looked into Andrea's eyes, tears building up in her own.

"What?" But Melinda went back to looking down again.

Andrea put her arm around Melinda, who in return leaned on Andrea.

Andrea looked up and saw Jim starring at them.

**I know it's not much, but I don't want to continue with the story I have until I get at least 3 comments saying they liked it. So comment! **


	3. Chapter 3

Jim walked over to his wife and friend.

"Well the guy is going to bring your car to the shop and it should be fixed in a couple of days. So, you ready to go?"

"Yeah," Melinda replied.

Andrea helped Melinda up and the three of them walked to her car. Melinda got in the back, behind the drivers seat while Jim sat next to Andrea. The car ride home was dead quiet. Jim kept looking at Melinda who was staring out the window. Her eyes seemed distant, sad. But he was afraid to say anything to her. He felt so helpless.

Melinda sat there thinking about what just happened. A memory flashed into her head as clear as a picture on a TV screen.

_Melinda was driving with a girl next to her. They were laughing, having a good time. The two of them looked at each other. Then the girl looked back at the road and screamed. Melinda too looked and saw a deer. She slammed the breaks ands swerved her car out of the way. It crashed into a tree. When Melinda turned to the girl, it was her turn to scream. The girls head was down, but Melinda could clearly see the blood. She reached over to grab the girl and carefully pulled her out of the car. Melinda collapsed onto the ground with the limp girl in her arms. Melinda was crying, yelling, shaking the girl to wake up. But it was no use, the girl was dead. _

It was at this point where Melinda snapped back to reality. She would never forget that horrible day, 10 years ago. But she knew she could not und othe past. She signed, put her head against the window and closed her eyes.

She was sure Jim was looking at her, she could feel his eyes on her, just as she could feel his worry. "But what could I tell him?" Melinda though, "10 years ago I killed someone?"

After what seemed like hours, they were finally home. Jim go out of the car, thanking Andrea, then went around the other side to open the door for Melinda.

Melinda got out of the car, thanked Andrea as well and walked inside, followed by Jim.

When they got inside Melinda was about to go upstairs when Jim grabbed her arm to stop her. She turned to look at him.

"Mel are you okay?"

"I'm fine, why is everyone asking me what's wrong?"

"Well you just seem, so, I don't know. I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong"

Melinda and Jim stared into each others eyes for a long time.

"I just want to go to bed okay?" Melinda said.

"Okay"

Melinda turned to go upstairs, halfway up Jim stopped her.

"Mel?"

"Yeah?"

"When you're ready to talk, I'm here"

The two of them walked upstairs and got ready for bed. It was almost midnight when they finally turned out the lights and got in bed.

Melinda lied awake for what seemed like hours, staring at the ceiling. Sleep wo8ld not come easily. She tossed and turned trying to get comfortable and fall asleep. When she felt like she was falling asleep, she was awakened by a bang downstairs.

Melinda looked over at Jim to see if he heard it, but he was fast asleep. She got out of bed and slowly made her way to the stairs. When she got to the top and looked down, her heart skipped a beat. Standing at the bottom of the stairs was a girl with blood running down her head, staring up at her. The young girl who haunts Melinda's dreams. The girl Melinda killed.

Melinda looked down at the girl. She could see the anger in her eyes.

"You!" the girl screamed

"No, please I'm so sorry" Melinda cried, backing away.

"You killed me!"

"I didn't mean to! I'm sorry Jamie!"

Jamie screamed coming towards Melinda.

"No!" Melinda then woke up. She was breathing hard, and drenched in sweat. She sat up and put her head in her hands. When she looked up again, she screamed. Standing at the foot of her bed was Jamie.


	4. Chapter 4

Melinda's scream woke up Jim

"Melinda what's wrong?"

"Jim?" Melinda called, reaching out towards him.

"I'm here, I'm here," Jim grabbed Melinda and wrapped her in his arms, protecting her. He could feel her shaking uncontrollably, "It's okay, it's okay. You're safe." He could feel her calm down a little, but she was still shaking a lot. It scared him, she's never been like this, and he didn't know why.

"I'm sorry I woke you" Melinda apologized.

"Don't worry, I was all ready awake"

Melinda tried to laugh, but it was hard. She couldn't catch her breath. She was still scared from the dream she had of Jamie and the sight of her at the foot of her bed.

"Come on let's go get you some water"

The two of them got up and went downstairs and to the kitchen. Melinda sat down at the table and Jim went to go get her some water.

"Ugh," Melinda sighed burying her head in her hands, "I'm so sorry I woke you up"

This time, Jim didn't try to hide it, "Me too. I was dreaming I was white water rafting down a river of beer, and I was in a big cup. Whatever came in my cup, I got to keep" Jim sat down next to Melinda.

"Are your dreams always this complex?" Melinda teased.

"Pretty much," the two laughed, "What was your dream?" Jim suddenly got serious.

"Nothing important. Just your average nightmare."

"Mel, I know you," Jim said not buying her story, "You only wake up screaming when you dream about a ghost. Tell me what's going on"

"You're right. I was dreaming about a ghost" Sometimes Melinda didn't like just how much her husband knew her.

"Must have been a pretty scary ghost."

"What makes you say that?"

"I've never seen you that scared before. I didn't know what to do, and that bothers me. Seeing you like this and not being able to help. I can't stand it" Jim confessed.

"Don't worry I'm fine"

"Are you?" Melinda looked shocked but he kept going, "You've been acting so strange since the accident. First you called me Jamie. Then you wouldn't talk after, you seemed distant. Now, now you're waking up screaming and shaking. And I called Andrea when you went to bed. She said you couldn't tell her what was wrong. Why won't you tell me what's wrong?" Jim was getting mad. If she wouldn't tell her best friend what was wrong, then he was going to have a hard time figuring it out.

Melinda began crying. She knew Jim loved her and worried about her, but she knew he would never understand.

"Melinda tell me what's wrong!"

"I can't!" Melinda screamed.

"Why not?" Jim yelled back.

Melinda drew back from her husband out of fear. She never heard him yell like that. She looked down and whispered, "You would never understand."

She tried to hold back the tears, but they kept coming. It embarrassed her to cry like this in front of him.

"Oh sweetie, come here" Jim felt awful about how he treated her. He pulled Melinda into him and let her cry into his arms as long as she needed.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning Jim woke up and looked over at Melinda's sleeping body. He loved the way the sunlight came through the window hitting her. It made her look like an angel.

He quietly got out of bed and went down stairs to make coffee. When he sat down the phone rang. He quickly got up to get it so it wouldn't wake Melinda.

"Hello?... Oh hey Andrea…. Not much……..She woke up screaming….No…..She won't tell me…She said I would never understand…..Okay…..All right….Okay I'll tell her. Bye."

When he hung up the phone he noticed Melinda was standing in the doorway.

"Who was that?"

"Andrea. She said if you weren't feeling good you could stay home. She can manage the store"

"Thanks, but no thanks. I can't just not go to work just because I had a bad dream. Besides, do you honestly expect me to leave Andrea alone all day?"

"You have a point," Melinda giggled which made Jim feel better, "Well I'm off. Love you."

"Love you too" Melinda replied. Jim leaned over to give her a kiss then was out the door.

Melinda sat at the table for a few more minutes before getting up to get ready to go to work.

She went upstairs to go and take a shower. She let the hot water cascade down her back, washing away all her worries down the drain. She was thinking about Jim. She's never seen him this worried about her before. She felt grateful to have such a caring husband. Maybe he would understand.

"I might tell him sometimes soon" she thought to herself.

When she got out of the shower she wrapped herself in a towel and went to her room. She spent a good five minutes trying to decide what to wear. She finally decided on a simple pair of jeans and a blue sweater, and would throw her hair up in a bun. Simple, but she didn't feel like getting dressed up. There was no need to.

She went downstairs and called Andrea.

"Hey Andrea…..I'm fine you?...That's good. Hey listen I'm gonna come to work today….yes I'm sure….I just had a bad dream…..No I won't fall asleep at the counter….Okay I'll see you later…..Bye" she hung up the phone and went to her car.

The good thing about Grandview was that everything was close together. It only took her 10 to 15 minutes to get to work. This made her glad. She didn't want to be in the car any more then she had to. She also really wanted to get to work. Her work was probably the one thing that could distract her from any problem she was having.

When she got there she saw Andrea all ready standing behind the counter. Melinda opened the door and walked in. Andrea looked up to the sound of the bell on the door. A big smile crossed her face when Melinda walked in.

"Hey girl!" Andrea said excitedly.

"Hey. What did you have for breakfast?" Melinda teased.

"Can't a girl be excited to see her best friend in the entire world?"

"What do you want?" Melinda walked behind the counter and began rearranging everything.

"What do you mean?"

"You only act all chipper when you want something."

"I do not!" Andrea declared, Melinda gave her a look, "Okay you got me. I just want to know, what's wrong with you?"

"Did Jim put you up to this?"

"No, I just want to know. You don't seem yourself."

"I'm fine okay? Can we just get back to work?"

"Okay" Andrea agreed, dragging out the word.

At this point someone walked in and looked around the store. She walked up to the counter holding a small lamp.

"Excuse me, how much is this?"

"That is…. around 30 dollars" Andrea responded.

"Thank you"

"No problem. Anything else?"

"Yes, could I see that clock?" She pointed behind the counter at an old coo coo clock.

"Sure" Andrea handed her the clock.

"How much is this?"

Andrea took it and turned it around, "Uh I'm not sure," she turned to Melinda, "Melinda how much is this? Melinda?"

But Melinda wasn't paying any attention. Not to Andrea, but she was transfixed on something outside. Andrea knew that look. It was the look Melinda got when she saw a ghost. She tried to distract the customer and let Melinda see. But only for a little bit.

Outside Melinda saw Jamie standing in the middle of the road, eyes glued to Melinda's. Melinda tried to look away but couldn't. Jamie began walking toward her. It was all Melinda could do not to back up. Jamie kept walking toward her, until a car drove right threw her, then, she was gone.

"Mel are you okay? Melinda? Mel?!"

"Yeah, fine"

**I know it's a little boring, but I needed a way to get to the ending part of this chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6

Jim was in the car when his phone rang. He picked it up and heard a familiar voice on the other end.

"Hey Mel… Yeah I'm at work….Uh I'm not sure if I can do lunch today. Sorry…Love you too. Bye"

Jim stared at the phone before throwing it down on the passenger seat. He hated lying to her.

The truth was he was on his way to Melinda's mom's house. He was determined to get to the bottom of this.

In a few minutes he pulled into his mother-in-laws driveway and got out of his car. He walked up to the door and rang the bell. Within no time at all, Mrs. Gordon opened the door.

"Jim! I was wondering when I was ever going to see you! How you doin'?" she reached over and gave him a hug.

"I'm fine," Jim answered returning the hug, "You?"

"I'm good. Well come on in! Have a seat."

Jim walked in and sat down on the couch.

"Oh I think my tea is ready. I'll be right back" Mrs. Gordon got up and walked to the kitchen, "Want anything?"

"Glass of water would be nice, thanks."

Jim could hear the clanging of glass and the sink going on as Mrs. Gordon got him some water. She waked back to the living room, handed Jim his drink, and sat on the couch across from his, taking a sip from her tea.

"So what brings you to this neck of the woods?"

"Your daughter"

A look crossed her face, "What did she do now?"

"I'm afraid it's what she isn't doing." Jim explained.

"What do you mean?"

"Who's Jamie?" Jim could see the pain overflow her eyes when he asked this question, and he could tell she was trying not to show it.

"How do you know about Jamie?" Mrs. Gordon asked, her voice shaking ever so slightly.

"Yesterday on our way home from a movie a deer ran in the middle of the road. When Melinda swerved the car, it crashed into a tree. Melinda kept saying she was sorry to Jamie. After that she hasn't been herself. She's waking up screaming, barely talking, and won't tell me what's going on. She says I would never understand" Jim told her.

Mrs. Gordon leaned back on the couch and breathed, "Oh my god."

"Mrs. Gordon, please, if you know anything, tell me."

"I don't know anything" she responded all but yelling.

"Do you know who Jamie is?"

She hesitated, searching her mind for an answer before saying, "No"

"Stop lying, who is Jamie?!" Jim was starting to get furious.

"I don't know who Jamie is!"

"Who is he?!" Jim yelled at her.

"My daughter!" Once these words passed her lips, the tears came. And they wouldn't stop.

**I know it's a little weird that I've written a story where Melinda has a younger sister. But I really wanted to, so tell me if you like how she has a sister, even if it is changing, like, everything about the story. Review!**


	7. Chapter 7

Jim could not believe what he just heard. How could he not know Melinda had a sister? They told each other everything, at least that's what he thought. Why would Melinda keep something like that from him? He didn't understand. Jim then noticed Melinda's mom was still crying hysterically. He got up from the couch he was sitting at, and sat next to her, putting an arm on her shoulder.

"Hey. Sshh. It's okay. I'm sorry, I had no idea." Jim apologized.

"I know. I had a feeling Melinda didn't tell you" Mrs. Gordon was finally calming down a bit.

Jim got up and sat down on the other couch, facing her, "If it's not too much to ask, will you please tell me what happened to Jamie?"

Mrs. Gordon took in a deep breath, deciding if she should tell Jim. After a minute or so, she decided he needed to know.

"Exactly 10 years ago yesterday, Melinda was in a fatal car accident involving her younger sister Jamie. Jamie, Jamie passed away instantly."

"What happened?"

I'm not sure. Melinda's car was the only one involved. She doesn't like to talk about it, so I've never gotten the whole story. The only thing I know is that her car crashed into a tree, and my baby girl died."

Jim noted the slight anger in her voice.

"Oh my god. That explains last night and why she is so upset now."

"Yes, it was hard on all of us, especially Melinda. Those two were the closest sisters I have ever seen. They told each other everything. They went everywhere with each other, mainly the movies. That's where they were before it happened, coming back from a movie. I've never seen two sisters who were 4 years apart so close in my life. I imagine they were so close because of their father."

"Their father?"

"Their father left when Melinda was 8 or 9, and Jamie was only 4 or 5. It broke their hearts. Whenever they had a problem they never came to me, they went to each other for comfort. When Jamie had a bad dream, it was Melinda she turned to. It seemed like I wasn't the mother, Melinda was. And whenever Melinda had boy problems when she was older, she would come home and talk to Jamie about it.

After Jamie died Melinda just stopped doing a lot of the things she liked to do before. She stopped babysitting a lot of kids she always babysat, she's never watched the movie they saw before Jamie died since, stopped talking to me. Stopped doing a lot."

"But why wouldn't Melinda tell me about Jamie?"

"Would you tell Melinda you killed your brother?"

"Wait, she can't possibly blame herself. It was an accident!" Jim was starting to understand a little bit why Melinda didn't tell him anything. But only a little bit.

Mrs. Gordon gave Jim a look before continuing, "How do you know it was an accident? She didn't tell you anything, and no one else saw!"

"What are you saying? Do you honestly think that Melinda killed her sister on purpose?" Jim couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Mrs. Gordon looked around before saying, "Shouldn't you be heading off to work?"

"Yes I should," They both stood up, "Thank you for the talk."

"You're welcome"

With that, Jim walked out the door, got in his car, and drove off, knowing he was going to have a very long talk when he got home.

**I know this chapter is long. But they were having a very long talk.**


	8. Chapter 8

Melinda didn't even notice she had walked to the door. That's what happens when she sees a ghost. She never really knows what she is doing most of the time. She turned around when she heard Andrea's voice.

"Melinda are you okay? Melinda? Mel!?"

"Yeah, fine"

"What did you see?"

"Aaaaaahhh, the usual"

"Gotcha. So what are we talking about?"

"Uh, ghost….." Melinda answered in an anyone-can-figure-that-out tone.

"No. I know what we're talking about. But, what did it look like?"

"Umm, I didn't really see. It went too quickly" Melinda lied.

"Oh, I see," it was at this point the two girls heard someone clear their throat behind them, realizing they still had a costumer in the store, "Oh my god I am so sorry!"

"Don't worry about it dear. I'm in no hurry. I could clearly see you were in a very important conversation" the costumer said a little too sarcastically.

Andrea walked behind the counter while saying, "Oh yes, when Melinda and I start going, we don't stop"

"If you don't mind me asking, what were you two talking about? It sounded very intense"

"We were uh.. talking about…." Andrea looked to Melinda, who was still standing by the door, for help.

"Uh…hosts" Melinda responded, saying the first thing she could think of that rhymed with "ghosts".

"Hosts?" the costumer asked not convinced.

"That's right," Andrea said, "See I'm looking for a host to, you know, host a party my brother is having. So Melinda is helping me"

"Right, and I uh, thought I saw a flier that advertised hosts. But I didn't really see what it looked like because, it uh, was blowing in the wind" Melinda stuttered out.

"Uh-huh, okay. Well if you don't mind I would like to know how much this clock costs" the woman held up the clock in annoyance.

"Free, on the house, for making you wait. Sorry for your troubles" Melinda hated to see something so valuable have no money go to it, but she really wanted to talk to Andrea alone, and as fast as she could.

"Thank you very much" The woman paid for the lamp, grabbed the clock and quickly walked out of the store.

When she was gone Melinda walked to the back of the store and sat down at her desk. She could hear Andrea open the register, put the money in, then, shut it. Five seconds later she was standing in front of the desk looking down at Melinda.

"So what did you really see?"

Melinda started playing with the computer mouse trying to think of what to say. She didn't want to keep lying to her best friend. Finally she decided on telling her the truth, well, part of it.

"Like I told you, it went too fast for me to really see. But I saw a young girl around 14 years old, and her head was bleeding. Then she disappeared before I could really look at her"

But Melinda knew exactly what she looked like, no matter how fast she came and went. She could never forget her little sister's face, no matter how hard she tried.

Melinda was hoping Andrea would buy her story, and so far she seemed to be. It was just a matter of time before she started to figure out the puzzle of Melinda's past.

"Oh I hate it when that happens!" Andrea teased.

Melinda laughed, and then put her head in her hands sighing.

Andrea frowned down at her friend, "You okay Mel? You don't look too good"

"Yeah fine, I'm just really tired" Melinda mumbled with her head still buried in her hands.

"I know exactly what you need"

"What?" she looked up at her friend.

"Coffee"

"Andrea, I think I'm beyond the point where coffee can remotely help me"

"Girl no one can be that far gone. I'll swing by Village Java right now just for you"

"Are you only offering to get me a coffee because you think the bus boy is cute?"

"No," Andrea responded slowly, "I care about you and don't want you to be tired. Plus you promised me you wouldn't fall asleep at the counter today"

"Right. Okay, coffee would be great"

"Kay, be back in 20"

With that Andrea grabbed her coat and purse, walked out of the store and down the street. There was no need to drive when everything was so closer.

Melinda was glad that she was alone. She let out a big sigh and leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes. A few seconds later she heard the familiar sound of lights flickering on and off. When she opened her eyes, sure enough all of the lights in the back room were flickering. They all fully went off, and Melinda was almost in complete darkness. The lights suddenly came back on, and Melinda quickly closed her eyes from the sudden bright lights. When she opened them back up she focused her eyes on a figure standing in the shadows. Her breath caught in her throat when the realization hit her. She was begging it wasn't true, but the familiar voice that spoke shattered her hopes.

"Where am I?" the voice asked.

Melinda just sat there, not knowing what to say. She couldn't believe that after ten years her sister was still earth bound. She could feel the tears building up, but she refused to cry.

Jamie walked out of the shadow and into the light, starring at Melinda with a confused look on her face. Her eyes widened when realization, too, hit her.

"Melinda? Is that you?" she asked uncertain of herself.

Melinda nodded to her sister forcing a smile.

Jamie looked around before asking for the second time, "Where am I?"

"You're in my store. I own an Antique Shop" Melinda chocked out.

"Since when do you own an Antique Shop?" Jamie laughed not believing her.

"Do you know what happened to you or how long it's been?"

"No. All I know is I've been walking around for a long time with a major headache right here," she reached up and touched the gash on her head, "but other then that I don't know really know that much.

Melinda has told countless amounts of ghosts they are dead but she never liked doing it. Telling them their life is over. Now knowing she has to tell her sister this, broke her heart.

"Jamie, sweetie, uh, I'm so sorry to tell you this, but you're, uh, you're-"

"-dead. I know. That's about the only thing I do know right now" Jamie looked down at the floor.

"But….how?" Melinda asked.

"Well for one thing growing up with a sister who can talk to the dead kinda helped. I was able to see the signs and put the pieces together. And also walking around, not knowing where I was half the time, not getting tired or hungry, all of that stuff," Jamie looked up and saw Melinda crying, "Melinda? What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to kill you. Can you ever forgive me?"

Jamie opened her mouth as if to say something, but shut it when the sound of the bell on the door could be heard. Melinda jerked her head up towards the door, watching Andrea come in with coffee cups in either hand.

"Hey Mel, I'm back!"

"Just a second!" Melinda called back.

When she looked back to talk to Jamie, she was gone.


	9. Chapter 9

"Perfect timing," Melinda sighed.

That seemed to happen to her a lot. Whenever she was talking to a ghost, alone, and just about to find out something very important, something always scares them off.

Andrea walked over to Melinda, stretching out her hand with Melinda's coffee in it.

"They were all out of your usual, so I got you what I like instead," Andrea noticed Melinda was gripping the mouse so hard, her knuckles were turning white, "Hey, if you don't want it fine. More for me. But honey, please don't crush the mouse, we need that."

"Huh?" Melinda let go of the mouse and reached for the coffee cup Andrea was offering her, "Mmmmm, my favorite, thanks," she said with a smile.

"You didn't listen to a word I just said did you?"

"Not a word," Melinda giggled.

"Thought so"

"So what did you say?"

"Oh, nothing," Andrea turned around smiling and walked into the main room, and stood behind the counter. She heard her friend take a sip, spit it out, and cough. Andrea started laughing hysterically, she couldn't help it.

"Andrea!" Melinda yelled from the other room, "You know I can't stand anything but my usual!"

"If you had listened to me in the first place, you would have known they were out of it" Andrea called back over her shoulder.

Melinda walked to the front of the store, holding the cup away from her, "Here take it," she said making a disgusted face.

"Hey it's no _that_ bad" Andrea defended while taking the cup from Melinda

"Trust me, it is"

The two laughed. Melinda then walked over to the window, and started to fool around with the displays.

"I am having a very exciting evening tonight, and you my friend are invited" Andrea declared.

"Oh yeah? What?"

"I am having a fright fest. Just you and me, sitting on the couch watching scary movies until we pee in our pants"

"Oh yeah? And what movies did you have in mind?"

"Only the really scary ones, you know, Friday the 13th, Scream, The Shining, I know what you did last summer"

"You're such a freak sometimes!"

"Hey!" Andrea threw a crumpled up piece of paper at her, "I am not!"

Melinda quickly ducked from the wad of paper being thrown at her, "I'm just kidding, no need to get violent!"

"I'm sorry. So, you up for it?"

"It sounds like a lot of fun, but I think I'm going to be having my own fright fest tonight.

"Oh, those types of fright fests," Andrea understood Melinda was helping someone, "Is it that one you saw in the street?"

"Yeah, it is"

"Have you seen them since?"

Melinda didn't know what to say, "Uh, yeah actually"

"What did they tell you?"

"Not much, they got scared off when you came in" which was the truth, just not the whole truth.

"Oh Mel, I'm sorry, me and my perfect timing" Andrea felt bad that she messed up Melinda's chance at talking to the ghost.

"Don't worry about it, I'll probably see her tonight or something" although deep down, she was dreading the next time she saw Jamie.

"I am starving!" Andrea declared.

Melinda walked to the front of the counter resting her elbows on it and said, "Andrea, you're always hungry"

"So, there's nothing wrong when it comes to having a healthy appetite. What do you say we go get some lunch?"

"Lunch sounds great. Jim said he was busy working anyway"

"Oh, so you're only having lunch with me because Jim is working? Thanks Mel"

"I didn't mean it like that!"

"Sure you did" Andrea teased giving her a playful shove.

"Thanks. Com on let's go," Melinda grabbed her jacket and headed for the door.

She stopped short to the sound of screeching tires, and the impact of metal on metal.

"Um, you know what Andrea? All of a sudden I feel really tired. I think I'm gonna head home and uh, go lie down or something."

"Melinda?" Andrea watched her walk over to the counter and grabbed her keys.

"I'm sorry" she walked out the door without even looking at Andrea.

"Melinda!" Andrea called watching her get in her car and drive off in the direction of her house.

**Sorry it's a little boring. I had to have a way to get her out of the store, so she could get home. The moment you've all been waiting for is just a few reviews away. (If you want it)**


	10. Chapter 10

On the car ride home, Melinda was thinking about what happened today. She felt really bad about just leaving Andrea without an exclamation, but after she heard that collision, for some reason she just panicked. She had to get out of there and go home to think.

But in a way, she _did _tell the truth about why she left in such a hurry. She _was_ getting tired. The accident last night, her dream, and 3 encounters with Jamie, drained everything out of her. So when she told Andrea she started feeling tired, she wasn't kidding. But it was much deeper then that alone.

She was just grateful that Jim told her he was so swamped with work. She just wanted to go home and be alone. She didn't want to worry about hiding anything from him when she got home, she was sick of hiding things from people for the day. It seems like that's all she's doing lately.

"Should I tell him?" Melinda asked aloud, mainly to the steering wheel.

She knew she wasn't going to get an answer from a steering wheel, so she decided to start flicking through the radio stations. She was desperately trying to find that right song, the one that would make her forget all her troubles for 4 minutes. However, every channel picked _now_ to start talking about problems with the latest celebrities. No one seemed to be playing anything.

After a few minutes, she finally settled for a station talking about some celebrity with some problem. She didn't know, or care, so she didn't have a clue as to what they were talking about.

Melinda, getting bored, started to tap on the steering wheel while humming a song.

After a few more minutes of random celebrity talk no one cares about, and tapping on the steering wheel, she finally pulled into her driveway. She turned off the car, grabbed her purse in the passenger seat, got out, and went inside.

She set her purse and keys down on a table, and kicked off her shoes. She walked to the refrigerator and grabbed a yogurt. Then she walked over to the utensil drawer and grabbed a spoon, shutting the drawer by pushing it with her waist.

She turned around to go to the living room, this time going through the dining room, mixing her yogurt. She looked up from her yogurt, and stopped short. Sitting on the couch starring at her, not smiling, was Jim.

Melinda smiled at him, "Hey Jim"

He didn't smile back, "Hey"

"What are you doing home? I thought you were at work"

"I never went to work"

"But you said-," Melinda was getting confused

"I went to go talk to your mom," Jim interrupted her, saying a little too calmly.

"You did what? I can't believe you went to go talk to my mother without asking me first!"

Jim patted the spot on the couch next to him, "Why don't you have a seat," still very calm.

Melinda hesitated in the doorway between the dining room and the living room. She shifted her weight from her right foot to her left foot, so she was leaning away from him. She had a feeling she knew what was coming, and she was scared. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, and she was pretty sure Jim could hear it from the couch.

Melinda turned around and placed the yogurt on the dining room table. She stood where she was for a few moments, twiddling her thumbs around each other. She dropped her arms and sighed, rocking back and fourth a couple of times. Jim, much to her disliking, was acting so calm. The situation Melinda was in was all ready very uncomfortable, and Jim wasn't helping. She looked toward him hoping for a reassuring smile, but none came.

Jim patted the couch again, "Mel, let's talk"

"About what?" Melinda stuttered out.

"About Jamie"

At the mention of Jamie's name, a sharp pain shot through her heart, like it was being ripped apart, "I all ready told you-,"

"Don't. I know about her, I talked to your mom"

"Oh yeah? And what did she tell you? Did she tell you it was my fault? Did she tell you I killed her on purpose? What did she tell you?" Melinda shouted at him.

"Pleas, sit"

"No"

"Melinda, sit," his voice was stern this time.

Melinda slowly walked over to the couch. She sat as far away as she could from Jim, and leaned against the arm of the couch to gain a little more distance.

"What happened that night?"

"I thought you said you talked to my mother," Melinda snapped back.

"I did, but I want to hear your story"

"It's not much different then hers"

"I still want to hear it"

Melinda looked down at her hands and took in a big breath, letting it out slowly.

Jim looked at her, not saying anything. He all ready caused enough damage today, and he knew he was going to cause more by making her tell the story. He didn't want to start off by rushing her. He waited this long to hear it, a few seconds wouldn't kill him.

Finally Melinda looked back up again.

"Ten… ten years ago… I accidentally killed my younger sister," Melinda looked at Jim for a reaction, and when she got none, she decided to keep going, "I swear to you it was an accident!"

"I know you didn't mean to do anything wrong," now Jim gave her the reassuring smile she was looking for before.

Melinda swallowed back the tears that were forcing their way up her throat, "We had just gone out to see a movie, Kill It Before It Dies, the theatre was playing classic oldies. Anyway, on our way back, I guess I wasn't really paying any attention to the road. I was too busy goofing off or something, I didn't even see it, but Jamie did. She screamed and I looked up. At the last second I saw the deer that was in the middle of the road. I slammed on the breaks and swerved my car to the side of the road. I crashed into a tree. I thought everyone would be okay, but when I looked over at Jamie, I was wrong. Her head was down, but I could see the blood flowing down the side of her face. I guess she hit it on the door or something, I don't know.

So I pulled her out of the car and dropped down on the ground with her in my arms. I tried shaking her to wake up, but she wouldn't. I just panicked. If I had done more then," Melinda looked up at the ceiling, blinking back tears.

Jim reached over and grabbed her hand, "Hey, listen to me. You did everything you could do for her. Okay?"

"No I didn't"

"Yes you did, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise"

Melinda nodded, a small smile sneaking its way across her mouth.

"What?"

"Nothing, I just, she was always happy"

"Yeah?"

"She would always be laughing and smiling. She was just the happiest kid I ever knew. She could walk into a room with no lights on, and just smile, and that would be all the light you needed for that one moment," Melinda smiled as the memories of her sister came flooding back to her, "I remember her first ghost. She was running around the house yelling that she saw her first ghost, and told us how excited she was. She was so happy, even though she didn't really see it that well"

"What do you mean she didn't see it well?"

"Jamie didn't have 'the gift' the same way I do. She had it more like my mom. They could hear ghosts, and sometimes make out their shadows, but she couldn't really see, or communicate with them that well. But she didn't care. She was just so happy she had the family 'gift'. I used to always tell her it would grow as she does."

"Your mom told me you two were very close"

"Oh the closest. When our father left, it was hard on both of us, but Jamie took it hard. She used to cry herself to sleep because she thought it was her fault, and I would always comfort her, and after that she never asked my mom for comfort, she asked me. That brought us much closer then we all ready were."

"Melinda, why didn't you tell me about her?"

Melinda got up from her spot on the couch, and walked over to the window looking at the sky, "I couldn't Jim. I killed my sister you would have never understood"

"How could you say that Mel? If you had told me the whole story I would have understood perfectly. Trust me, I know how much this hurts, I lost my brother. So I know what you're going through"

"It's not the same"

"No it's not the same. But it's pretty damn close. Melinda, you can't beat yourself up about this. You didn't kill her"

"Yes I did. If I had been looking where I was going, or swerved the car the other way, then Jamie would still be alive……," Melinda started banging on the window crying and screaming over and over again, "I HATE YOU!"

Something inside of her snapped. All of her anger was let loose all at once. She hated her father for leaving. She hated her mother for blaming her for everything. She hated Jim for talking to her mother. But most of all, she hated Jamie for dying.

Jim got up from the couch and rushed over to Melinda and embraced her, saying anything comforting he could think of.

At first Melinda resisted him, pushing him away and hitting him, yelling at him to let her go. Then Melinda collapsed onto the ground crying. This time when Jim embraced her, she let him. They sat like that for a long time. Melinda crying into Jim's arms, while Jim held her tightly, tighter then he's ever held her before. He knew he was her rock. But right now, Melinda didn't need a rock. She needed a boulder.

**Sorry if it's really confusing. It sounded right in my head, but then again, things always sound right in your own head. But thanks for reading!**


	11. Chapter 11

In ten minutes Melinda cried harder then she's ever cried in her life, she even cried harder then the night Jamie died.

Melinda started to calm down a little bit. Her cries came out in a mix of sniffs, hiccups and chokes, a good sign that her crying was coming to an end.

She opened her eyes, which had been shut most of the past ten minutes, and came face to face with Jim's shirt. It was drenched in tears, and wrinkled where she had grabbed onto it.

She was still looking at his shirt when she said between hiccups and sniffs, "Sorry I….. ruined….. your shirt"

"It's okay, this is why I wore this shirt today."

Melinda let out a small laugh then looked up at jim, "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you to," he said while brushing Melinda's hair out of her face.

Melinda put her head back down on Jim's chest and closed her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something but shut it. She did this a couple of times before finally saing, "I'm sorry I was so wrong about you"

"It's okay. I know it's hard. Sometimes at work we loose patients, and when we have to tell their family, we don't know how they will judge us. But we still do it, because no matter what, we know that we did everything that we could do. No matter what they think"

"How could I have been so stupid?"

"Hey you were not stupid, you were scared. There's a big difference," Jim thought this would make Melinda relaxe, but instead he felt her entire body tense up, "What's wrong babe?"

"I wish my mother understood like you" Whenever the subject of Melinda's mother was brought up, she couldn't help but get angry.

"What are you talking about?"

"She blamed me"

"For what?"

"For everything! She blamed me when my father left. She said he would have never left if I was a normal child. She blamed me for all her problems. I was just one big scapegoat for her. And then when Jamie died-" Melinda grew quiet as a memory flooded her head.

_Melinda and Mrs. Gordon walked in their house, neither of them looking at each other. Their eyes were blood shot from crying._

"_I just can't believe she's gone" Mrs. Gordon cried. _

"_Mom I'm so sorry" Melinda whispered._

"_Sorry? You're sorry? Sorry doesn't cut it Melinda. You got your sister killed. How fast were you driving? What did you have to drink? Did you know that, that deer was there?"_

"_You can't honestly think I killed her do you?"_

"_I don't know what to think Melinda. This morning you yelled at me about how I give Jamie more attention and how I love her more. Now tonight she's dead. What do you want me to do? Say it's okay and act like you did nothing wrong?"_

"_Yes mom, I would. That would help"_

_By this point the two girls were yelling at each other._

"_Well I can't do that"_

"_Why not?"_

"_The day you see Jamie you come to me, and I'll tell you"_

"_That's not fair! Jamie doesn't have any reason to stay earth bound!"_

"_Well then I guess you'll never know will you?" Mrs. Gordon put her head in her hands, "Go to your room Melinda"_

"_But mom!"_

"_GO TO YOUR ROOM!"_

_Melinda went down the hall. When she got to her door, she turned to face her mom with tear and hate filled eye, "I hate you!" With that she walked into her room and slammed the door._

"Mel?" Jims voice brought her back, "What's wrong?"

"She's never looked at me he same. She's hated me for 10 years. She thinks I killed her on purpose"

"What? How could she think that?"

Melinda squeezed her eyes shut, "Because of our fight"

"What fight?"

"Earlier the same day that Jamie died, my mom and I got into a huge fight. I told her that she treated Jamie so much better then me, and how she loved her more. I told her- I told her I sometimes wished she never even had Jamie," Melinda began to cry again, " How could I say that? My own sister"

"Hey, it's okay, you were angry. When peole are angry we say things we don't mean," Jim began stroking Melinda's hair.

"no it's not okay. When we were in the car coming home, the last thing I thought right before the accident was how jealous I was of her. I was jealous she had more of a normal life then me. Jealous because my mom loved her more. Jealous because she didn't really remember my dad, so it hurt less. I was just so angry at her. That's why my mom hates me so much. She thinks I crashed the car on purpose."

"But you didn't"

"I don't know. My mom wouldn't even tell me it was all an accident. She said she couldn't. she said-" Melinda stopped short.

"What?"

"She said 'The day you see Jamie you come to me, and I'll tell you.' I told her it wasn't fair, because Jamie doesn't have any reason to be earth bound, so I'll never know."

"maybe that's why your mother said what she said. She knew you would never see her."

"That's not true."

"What?"

Melinda got up from Jim, walked to the kitchen and sat down. She heard Jim get up and walk down the hall as well. He sat down at the table across from his wife.

"I saw her, Jamie"

"What? When?"

"My dream last night was about Jamie," Jim opened his mouth to say something, but Melinda held up her hand to stop him, "I woke up, all scared, and then I saw Jamie standing right at the foot of my bed. That's why I screamed. At first I thought I was just weeing things, but later I knew I wasn't. I saw her outside my store, and then again in the back room."

"Did you talk to her?"

"Only for a minute. Andrea walked in before I could say a lot"

"Well what did you say?"

"She asked me where she was, and when I told her, she didn't believe I owned a store. She said she doesn't know anything aexcept that she's dead, and has a headache where she hit her head. I asked her to forgive me, but she left before I got an answer. I just can't believe she's here. She's been earth bound 10 years with unfinished business."

"The thing I don't get is why did she come back now? I mean why not sooner?" Jim asked puzzled.

"Well some ghosts are stuck in a sort of limbo, and don't know it. Then an event happens in their families lives that triggers something and they come back"

"Last night," jim said figuring it out.

"Exactly. Last night was the anniversary of her death, and we topped it off by practically recreating what happened. So now she's back, which means….."

"What?"

"It means I have to talk to the last person on earth I ever wanted to turn to"

**Sorry if it's confusing. There's not a lot of stuff going on, it's just them talking. So if you want more please read and review! Please and thank you!**


	12. Chapter 12

Melinda put her head down on the table and slapped it a couple times with the palm of her right hand while groaning.

"Mel? What's wrong?" He was expecting her voice to be quavering and tear filled, but when she spoke her voice sounded tired and fed up.

"I have to go see my mom" she responded with her head still on the table. She really wished that it wouldn't have to come down to this.

Jim reached over and began rubbing her back. He knew Melinda hated seeing her mother, no matter what the occasion was.

"When are you going to see her?" he asked.

"Tomorrow after work, I'll go talk to her, even if it kills me" _Which it probably will_ Melinda thought to herself.

"Do you want me to come with you?"

Melinda picked her head up and looked into his eyes, "No, that's okay. This is something I have to do on my own."

"You sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure"

Jim leaned in and kissed Melinda's forehead, "I love you"

"I love you too"

The two of them stayed like that, eyes locked to each other, for only a few seconds. But to them it felt like an eternity.

Melinda broke the stare by getting up and walking over to the cabinet. She grabbed a glass, filled it with water and looked down at it. Realizing she forgot ice, she opened the freezer, grabbed some ice, and carefully tried to plop it in the water, so that none would go flying out of the cup. After she was satisfied with the amount of water and ice she got, she turned around heading for the stairs.

"Where are you going?" Jim asked while getting up

Melinda continued to walk up the stairs, "I think I'm gonna go lie down for a bit"

Jim walked to the bottom of the stairs, looking up at his wife heading towards their room, "Do you want me to come with you?"

Melinda sighed, "No I think I want to be alone for a little while"

"You sure?"

"Positive"

"Okay. I'll be right down here, call me if you need anything"

"Will do" Melinda walked into her bedroom shutting the door behind her.

When she turned to face her bed, she jumped nearly dropping her water. Jamie was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed acting as if she did this everyday.

Melinda put her hand to her chest catching her breath, "Hey Jamie. Sorry, you scared me"

"I guess I have that affect on people," Jamie responded shrugging her shoulders.

Melinda put the glass down and slowly walked to the bed and sat across from her sister.

"You look….good" Melinda said trying to make conversation. She noticed Jamie didn't have a gash in her head anymore, "How's your headache?"

"Gone now"

"Good. That's ….good" Melinda couldn't believe how awkward it felt just to talk with her own sister. Both of them sat there looking around the room nervously.

"Who is he?" Jamie asked breaking the silence, "the man downstairs"

"Oh Jim? He's my husband"

"When did you get married?"

"Almost a year ago"

"I wish I had a boyfriend like him. He's very nice" Would of made a great brother"

"I'll be sure to tell him that" the two girls giggled, "Did you hear what happened downstairs?"

Jamie looked down at her hands, "Yes and I'm so sorry"

"You're sorry? I was the one who killed you! I took you life away!" Melinda was so sure tears would start pouring out by now, but none came, "I guess I cried every last drop" she thought.

"No, I'm the one who should be apologizing. It's because of me you got in so much trouble"

"Sweetie, you can't blame yourself. It wasn't your fault, it was mine" Melinda grew quiet and looked down at her hands.

Jamie went to go reach for Melinda's hands, but stopped herself. She knew she couldn't touch her, so she brought her hands back to her lap.

"Hey, don't _ever_ think it was your fault okay? It was an accident"

"Jamie, I need to know. Do you forgive me?"

"Melinda, I was never mad you in the first place. There's nothing to forgive."

"Please, I need to hear you say it. I need to know you forgive me"

"Okay, Melinda, of course I forgive you"

Melinda sighed with relief. It felt as if half of the weight she's been carrying around for the past 10 years has been lifted. Hopefully the rest would leave when she saw her mother tomorrow.

"You have no idea how much that means to me" Melinda said with a huge smile. Right now she wanted nothing more then to reach over and give her sister the biggest hug she could give. But she knew she couldn't, and never would.

"Now you have to do something for me"

"Anything"

"I need you to tell her the truth"

"What? Who?"

"Tell her the truth"

"Jamie tell who the truth?"

But in an instant Jamie was gone. Melinda lied down thinking she was going to have a _very_ long day ahead of her.

**Well here it is, chapter 12! Sorry if it seemed a little rushed, I just need a way to get to the next day. Melinda/Mrs. Gordon chat coming up soon! Please read and review!**


	13. Chapter 13

Jim was sitting at the kitchen table letting everything sink in. He could not believe how much Melinda's been through. He understood how much it hurt to loose a sibling, he himself lost his own brother. But Melinda had lost the only other person that understood what she was going through. And from what he could tell her mother put all the blame on Melinda for everything, especially Jamie's death. As much as he wanted to know what is going to happen tomorrow, he knew it would be best to stay home. He knew that it would be too awkward and hard for her if he was there. This was something that she had to do alone, face her fears. And she couldn't do that if he was there to protect her, as much as he wanted to be there to protect her from anything that happens. But hopefully Melinda would tell him what they talked about and how her mother reacted, and if she doesn't he won't push her. He's done enough pushing for a while.

Jim got up and started pacing the kitchen sliding one hand on the surface of the island while running his other hand through his hair taking a big breath in and letting it out slowly. He began to walk to the stairs, but stopped himself, remembering the promise he gave her about letting her be alone for a little bit. He walked back to the kitchen table thinking how unusually quiet it was. He expected to hear crying and sobbing upstairs, but he heard nothing. When the silence was too defining for him to bear, he walked back to the stairs again and listened hard. This time he could hear voices in the bedroom, but he couldn't make out actual words.

"_Maybe Jamie is with Melinda" _he thought to himself.

Jim sat down on the couch taking a quick glance at the clock. 9:30.

"_Wow had it really been that long?"_

He decided he'd give Melinda ten more minutes and then he was going upstairs and either going straight to bed, or stay up and comfort his wife. He was ready for either turn out.

The next ten minutes was the longest ten minutes of his life. He tried channel surfing, but he got bored after 4 or 5 channels. Finally when 9:40 came along, Jim instantly got up and made his way to their bedroom. When he got to the door, he quietly opened it and walked in, just in case Melinda was asleep. Sure enough, there she was, sound asleep on the bed.

"_Good,"_ Jim smiled, "_she needs to rest after what she's been through"_

Jim went to the closet and pulled out a blanket and placed in on Melinda's sleeping body giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. He took off his shirt, threw it in the closet and climbed in bed, falling asleep before his head hit the pillow.

The next morning Jim woke up and looked over at the clock.

"_7:20, Melinda will be waking up soon"_

He turned over so that he can watch her wake up, but she wasn't there.

"Mel?" Jim called out, but he didn't get an answer. He got up and went downstairs to look for her.

Jim quickly walked into the kitchen calling out her name again.

"Right here"

Jim turned around and saw Melinda sitting at the table cradling a cup of coffee in both hands. Even though she seemed to have a good nights sleep, according to Jim, she looked exhausted.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just, I talked to Jamie last night"

"Oh, and what did you two talk about?" he tried to say this as casually as he could.

"A few things. Oh by the way, she really likes you. Apparently she was watching us talk, and she thinks you're a great husband. She wishes she could have met you"

"I wish I could have met her too. It would be interesting having her around. What else did you talk about?"

"Well, I asked her if she could ever forgive me, and she said of course she could because she said it wasn't my fault. She also said she was sorry she got me in trouble."

"See, Jamie never blamed you for her death"

"She didn't but like I said, my mother did. She also wanted me to tell 'her' the truth"

"Who's 'her'?"

"I don't know, that's the thing. She told me to tell 'her' the truth, and then she left. Now I have to tell my mom Jamie's here, hear what my mom has to say, and go find this mysterious someone and tell them something."

"You sure you're up for this?"

"No, but what choice do I have? She's still my sister, alive or dead, and I'd do anything for her"

"I just hate seeing you go through all this pain"

Melinda reached out and put her hand on his arm, "I know, and you have no idea how much I love you for that. But this is something I have to do"

"Okay, but promise me something"

"What?"

"When this is all over, promise me you'll tell me when a crazy family member is haunting me right away. Okay?"

Melinda laughed and held out a hand, "Deal"

"Deal," Jim replied shaking her hand.

The two of them got up and got ready to leave. Outside they gave each other a good-bye kiss and got in their cars to go their separate ways.

On the car ride to her store, Melinda promised herself she was going to see her mother after work, even if it did kill her. She was just praying there was going to be a huge disaster preventing her from going.

In no time Melinda was at work and behind the counter. She was hoping that she could see Jamie one more time before leaving, so she could hopefully learn who needs to hear the truth.

After what seemed to Melinda as 5 minutes, Andrea was asking her if they wanted to go out to lunch.

At Village Java Melinda asked, "Isn't it strange that when you want something to happen, the day goes by really slowly. But when you don't want something to happen, the day goes by really fast?"

"Mhmmm" Andrea answered staring dreamingly at the bus boy.

Melinda smiled rolling her eyes and kept eating her sandwich.

When lunch was over they walked back to the store arm in arm like two school girls heading home. They continued their work, and finally, it was closing time. Melinda was behind the counter going through some paperwork while Andrea was closing up.

"Hey," Andrea said after she flipped the OPEN sign to CLOSED, "I got an extra ticket to go see the show tonight. Would you care to join me?"

"I'd love to!" Melinda paused remembering her promise, "But I can't. I'm going to have a talk with someone"

"Ghost business?"

"Yup"

"Who do you have to see?"

"My mother"

"What ghost is interesting in seeing your mother?"

"I'll tell you about it later"

"Oh, okay then."

The two girls walked out the door, Melinda turning around to lock it behind them. They said their good-byes and Melinda drove off heading for her moms house. In less then ten minutes she was there. She could feel her heart start beating faster. She slowly got out of the car and walked to the front door. Taking a deep breath in, she rang the door bell.

**Okay, I'm sorry if it started off going really slow, and then ended going really fast. But this is another one of those transition chapters. So hopefully the next one will be better!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: Okay first of all I would love to apologize for not updating in a really long time. Things have just been extremely crazy and I had writer's block for a long time, and I just never got around to doing it. And then they changed how you upload chapters so I didn't know how to do it and I finally figured it out so this chapter is up!!! **

**Thank you so much to the people who have kept up and have reviewed asking me for the next chapter.**

**Oh and this is set in season 1 still, so anything that we have found out about Melinda's father doesn't apply to this story.**

Melinda stood nervously at the front door of her mothers house, waiting for it to open. She heard footsteps on the other side ad her mind started going through ways she could leave.

_I could make a run for it and pretend that I'm playing ding-dong-ditch or something……… No that won't work, she'll see my car._

Before she could figure out what to do it was too late. Melinda saw the knob turning and the door flew open instantly, her stomach jumping to her throat, blocking any air from leaving. Mrs. Gordon stood there staring at her daughter looking just as shocked for seeing Melinda, as Melinda was to be there.

Finally, after it felt like the awkward silence could smother both of them, Mrs. Gordon said rather nervously, "Won't you come in?"

Melinda slowly walked into the living room, and turned to face her mom who was taking her time shutting the door.

"I- I guess Jim told you he talked to me"

"Yes, he did."

"So I suppose you came out here to yell at me then, right?"

Melinda didn't particularly care for the tone of voice her mom was using, but she remembered her promise to herself right before she began to speak, "No Mom, I'm not going to yell at you. I promised myself I wouldn't."

"Then what is it that you want?"

"To talk to you about Jamie"

"Don't you _dare_ say her name! You lost that privaledge the night she died." The hate in Mrs. Gordon's voice was like a venom that could kill you instantly.

"You're not the only one hurting mom! You're not the only one who lost somebody! Okay?! She was my best friend! The only one I could talk to because _**YOU**_ ever wanted to hear anything I had to say! So don't talk to me like you're the only one who is hurting right now!" Melinda completely forgot about the promise to herself and was screaming at her mother.

"When you loose your own child, let me know how different that feels compared to loosing a sibiling."

"Oh do not do this again!"

"Do what?"

"Tell me to only come to you or say something when a certain thing happens. Just like when Jamie died. You said you would only tell me why you did what you did the day I see Jamie's spirit. So start talking."

"What are you talking about?"

"Remember the night Jamie died, and I asked you why you couldn't tell me everything was okay? You told me you were only going to tell me the day I see Jamie's spirit. Well guess what mom, I saw her, four times. So why couldn't you?"

"Do you honestly expect me to believe you when you say when that you saw her spirit? You said so yourself, Jamie has no reason to stay here"

"Obviously I was wrong"

"You're lying! Just because you want to know something you're bringing your sister into this! Jamie has no unfinished business Melinda! I can't believe you would really stoop that low."

"Mom, she does! She told me herself that she has unfinished business okay?"

"Well what is it then?"

"I don't exactly know for sure-"

Mrs. Gordon flew her hands up in exaggeration, "Oh that's just great!"

"Will you let me finish?! Jamie said to tell 'her' the truth and then left. That's it. That's all I know"

"Okay, so you expect me to believe you when-"

"STOP FIGHTING!"

The two girls stopped short and looked shocked, even though Melinda was trying really hard not to smile. The look on her mothers face was priceless. Melinda was used to sudden screams or appearances, her mother wasn't.

_Oh I really wish I had a camera_

Mrs. Gordon's expression went from shocked to mad, angry, sad, happy and confused all at the same time. She realized right away who the voice had come from, "Jamie? Is that you?" Her eyes began to swell with tears.

"Yes mom it is. It's Jamie" Melinda answered for her.

"Melinda, shut up let your sister answer"

"She all ready did. Twice. I thought you could hear ghosts"

The two started yelling at each other again, completely forgetting that Jamie was standing only two feet away from them.

"Guys! Seriously! I didn't come here to hear you yell and scream at each other!" Jamie was starting to get mad herself.

Melinda looked at the floor ashamed of herself, "I'm sorry Jamie"

Jamie smiled at her sister, then turned her attention to her mom, "Mom?"

"Mom, Jamie is asking you to promise you won't yell at me anymore," Melinda paused listening then smiled, "At least for right now"

Mrs. Gordon couldn't help but laughing, "Yes Jami, I promise"

Melinda sighed then walked over to the couch and sat down. Her eyes followed Jamie as she too went to go sit down next to her sister.

"Mom, have a seat" Melinda offered.

"I prefer to stand"

Melinda looked over at Jamie who began to cry, "Jamie what's wrong sweetie?"

"I'm so sorry I got you into so much trouble"

"Honey didn't you hear me last night? It wasn't you who got me in trouble okay? I didn't even get in trouble"

"Yes you did. I saw you and mom yelling at each other that night. You got sent to your room, and mom hated you"

"You were there?"

"What? What's going on? What's she saying?" Mrs. Gordon hated being left out in the cold.

Melinda turned to her mom and said slowly, still trying to believe it, "She said she saw us fighting, and that she's sorry she got me in trouble, and that you shouldn't hate me anymore"

"That's bull Melinda! Jamie knows that I don't hate you!"

"Yes you do! And you still do! Melinda never did anything wrong! So stop lying!" Jamie was on the verge of tears, and she looked straight at Melinda with pleading eyes, "Please tell her to stop blaming you. Please," the last word was barely a whisper.

Melinda turned her attention back to her mom, wiping the slowly building tears from her eyes.

"Mom, she's begging you to stop. She won't cross over until you do."

Mrs. Gordon looked down at her shoes, avoiding Melinda, "Oh Jamie sweetie, it's going to take me some time before I forgive your sister"

"Why?" Melinda and Jamie asked at the same time

"Oh honey, I've resented your sister since she found out about her gift. It's not something you just get over"

"Why would you hate Melinda?! _How_ could you hate her?!"

Melinda stared at a spot on the ground a few feet in front of her, wishing she could just get up and leave. But she knew she couldn't, for Jamie's sake. Melinda swallowed the building tears and chocked out, "She wants to know why you hated me, and how"

"I've blamed Melinda ever since she got her gift. I blamed her for her father leaving, thinking that if she was normal he would have stayed. I blamed her for when your grandmother and I fought all the time. If Melinda was normal then maybe we wouldn't have fought all the time like we did. I just wanted her to be a normal child!"

"Oh! So you were just looking out for her then! You wanted her to live a more normal life, and not have to hear all those fights and have a father figure. You were just looking out for her!" Jamie was putting on a hopeful smile.

"Uh, I don't think mom wanted me to have a normal life to make _me_ happier. I think she wanted me to be normal to make _her_ happier and lead a normal life."

Jamie gave a puzzling look at her mom, "Is this true?"

"She wants to know if this is true" Melinda said still avoiding her moms eyes.

Mrs. Gordon took in a big breath and slowly breathed out a, "Yes"

Jamie started at her mom with a horror stricken face, "I- I don't get it. Why would you-?"

As if she knew that Jamie was talking, Mrs. Gordon continued, "I am so sorry Jamie. But your sister's right. Everything I ever did to her or for her was only for my benefit. Not once did I stop to think that what I was doing could be hurting her. I was just being extremely selfish."

"I still don't understand" Jamie was desperately attempting to wrap her mind around the entire situation, but her hands just wouldn't reach the other side. "All this time I thought you loved her and did everything to make both of our lives better. Now- now you're telling me that everything that you ever did was only for you?"

Melinda opened her mouth to explain what her mother meant, but the words could not get passed the ever growing lump in her throat.

"Um, Jamie, mom thought that her marriage with dad ended because of me and my gift…"

Mrs. Gordon sensed that Melinda was struggling to just be in the same room as her, let alone being forced to explain to her sister why her own mother hated her. "Jamie, I was too selfish to even take into consideration that maybe it was my fault your father left and not your sister's. When your father told me he was leaving, I was heartbroken. I couldn't believe he would walk out on me like that. I couldn't make the pain go away.

Soon, I began making excuses. Anything to convince myself it wasn't my fault. So I set the blame on the easiest target: Melinda. I told myself Melinda was the reason he left. I made up this argument in my head saying he left because all he wanted was a normal child who didn't see ghosts. After a while, you start believing what you imagine," realizing what she was saying, Mrs. Gordon's voice quickly switched to panic mode, "I'm so sorry I was selfish. I wasn't thinking! I-"

As if they could read each other's mind that two sisters looked up at their mother with hate filled eyes. "Don't" they said through clenched teeth.

"Just… don't." Melinda couldn't take any more of this. She needed to get out of there!

When she looked down at the couch, Mrs. Gordon saw, for the first time in her life, a little girl who was hurt beyond belief sitting in front of her. She couldn't believe she had let things get this crazy.

"Melinda, please. I'm so sorry" Mrs. Gordon stepped forward in attempts to embrace her daughter. But Melinda was not in the hugging mood.

"Don't you dare touch me! I'm sorry Jamie, but I can't be here any longer. I have to go" With that Melinda grabbed her coat and all but ran out the front door. She wanted to get to her car before her mother could do anymore damage. But Jamie had beaten her to it.

"Wait! Mel you promised!"

"I'm sorry, I can't do this anymore"

"Melinda you have to tell her the truth! You promised me you would!"

"And who needs to hear the truth? Huh Jamie?"

Jamie didn't answer, but instead looked up passed her sister. Melinda followed her gaze, and when she saw what Jamie was looking at, her shoulders collapsed in desperation.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me…"


	15. AUTHORS NOTE

**Authors Note:**

**Holy. Crap. **

**Two years since I've posted a new chapter? I only just started writing FanFiction again. I didn't even visit the site for a year and a half. How incredibly… not cool.**

**I feel like I owe you guys an explanation and major apology for why I haven't posted anything in so long. Granted, I do realize that most of you have forgotten about this story (( I know I have )), or it's been so long you simply don't care anymore. But I know that I feel confused when an author ceases writing a story and doesn't take the time to thank their readers or explain why they chose to discontinue. So I am going to explain myself to you guys right now. **

**First of all, if you guys are still interested in this story I hope you stick around. Because I would like to finish it. I have never not finished anything in my entire life. And it would suck to start now. I will probably just completely re-write everything and make it better.**

**So I started writing this when I was what… 14? 15? Somewhere around there. At that time I was just starting to really get into writing. And I had yet to find myself as an author. I was still testing the waters with the style that I ultimately liked best. Re-reading The Past, I couldn't help but cringe at the blaring grammar mistakes, the short sentences, and horrible story line. The thing is, I see everything in pictures. And it took a while to realize people don't see the same pictures as I do. So I wasn't describing anything clearly and for that I apologize. Based on the stories that I have since written… The Past is just not up to par. And I can't bring myself to revisit it because it's written so differently than my work now. **

**It was also extremely hard for me to continue because I had this whole idea planned out in my head as to who Jamie wanted to tell the truth to, and what that truth would be. But this was before I saw the earlier episodes of Ghost Whisperer. I then discovered that they basically had the same confession already. So I did not want to copy that. But then I couldn't think of anything else to write about. I had unfortunately developed a MAJOR case of writers block. One that still plagues me today. And let me tell you, it is not fun. Not fun at all. **

**I have lost inspiration to continue this story. Lately all of my time has been spent writing stories for Glee and nothing else. Those characters I get. I don't get Melinda. I don't know who she is anymore. And I fear that if I try to write her again it's going to come across as extremely OOC. More so than I usually write. I have become extremely critical in my writing over the years, and I am thoroughly disgusted with how I wrote The Past. And I can't bring myself to continue in that fashion. Which is why, if you guys want me to, I will try my hardest to continue the story and edit it to make everything sound better.**

**I just feel terrible that I have been doing everything in my power to please the readers of my other stories, and yet here I am ignoring you guys. This is not something that I am proud of. I can't begin to tell you guys how sorry I am for neglecting this story and what you have had to say. **

**Now, I don't know if any of you like Glee, or even One Tree Hill (( I have one, slightly poor, story written for that show )), but if you would like to see writing I'm actually a little proud of feel free to check out my newer stories. If you're too angry with me I totally understand. I don't deserve to have you guys still checking this story. When I saw that it was still getting hits, and then another review… I think my heart broke. I felt terrible.**

**I am so sorry. And if enough people want to see the end of this story, then I will do my best to please you. But if everyone has since forgotten its existence… I shall as well.**

**Thank you to all who took the time to read my story and review at every chapter. It really means a lot to me. Even though I hardly showed it. You guys were my inspiration to keep going with my work. Whenever I doubted myself I just looked at your kind words. You guys rock.**

**One more thing. If you guys have any questions about where this story was planning on heading, ask away. If you have hate messages telling me you're pissed I haven't updated in forever, bash away. I deserve it. And I will try to answer any and all questions you might have.**

**Again, I'm so sorry for this.**

**Sincerely**

**kempokarate12**


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